Sheet severing equipment



April 7, 1956 R. 0. SMITH ETAL SHEET SEVERING EQUIPMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Fig Filed May 25, 1954 HOW vw OMC W5 ma m H A T7'ORNE 1 April 17, 1956R. 0. SMITH ETAL 2,742,087

SHEET SEVERING EQUIPMENT Filed May 25, 1954 2 SheetZs-Sheet 2 INVENTORIRUDOLPH O. 5M/77/ BY MERLIN n1 saw/E A TTOR/VEY Fig.5.

2,742,037 sneer sEvEnI GE nirM rs-T.

jl iudolphb. Smith, Pennington; andMerlin H. Becher;

This invent-ion relates to equipment for severing lengths "transit is.particularly adatped'for use in severing sheets I g 72,742,037 'Patented Apr. 17, 1956 Ice .' p per f omja roll for use as separators placedbetween {coil springs to the compressing and baling of such springs for'storage and shipment. As shown the springs 2 are broughtto the papersevering equipment by' a conveyor '4 soias to be positioned in front ofthe vertical stand 6 on. Whichfthe paper severing equipment is mounted.A web I e paper 8 is drawn from the roll 10 and passes over/the oil 12to "therubber' coated paper feeding rolls 14. From thcfeeding rol ls"the paper passesbetween the upper and 'fflower elements of'the sheetsevering means indicated gencrally*at16'and-thenc e passes downward overthe spaced of paper or other sheet material from a roll or supplythereof, and is directed particularly to constructions in which thematerial is severed primarily by tensioniug or rupturing action asdistinguished from the usual shearing action of equipment of the priorart. 1

There aremany situations in which sheets or lengths of paper arerequired for covering, separating or wrapping articles. In someinstances the sizes of the sheets required -vary considerablyinsuccessive uses whereas other applicationscall for sheets of uniforrnsize. In any case the sheets mustbe severed from a'roll or supplyofpaper either before or during the actual use thereof."Theequipmentheretofore employed for this purpose has included a movableshear or knife edge which cooperates "with another shear or knife whichmaybe either vice.

sheet supporting forks '18. I The equipment preferably includes 7control means "whereby'the feed rolls 14 will be stopped and the sheetto be severed 'will be held stationary whenever a predetermined lengthof paper has been fed through the de- "In the construction shown thecontrol means includes'an electrical circuit (not shown) under thecontrol -of a photoelectric cell 20 and source of light 22 which aremounted on a carriage 24 movable along the track 26 to any desiredposition corresponding to the length of the sheet -togbe severed. Theleading edge of a sheet moving overthe supporting forks 18 willinterrupt the beam of {forks ltr thebeam of light from source 22 willagain fall movable or stationary. Suchshearinigelementsinust ofnecessity be made of high grade stee1 ;and require fre- "quentsharpening. Moreover, they frequentlyhave to be adjusted in position toinsure proper cutting engagement of the relatively moving parts.

In accordance with .the present invention accurate adjustment of theelementsis made unnecessary and knife edges and similar means can beeliminated altogether.

The sheet material to be severed is instead gripped by-two pairs ofrelatively movable clamping members which serve to rupture the paper orpull it apart by a tensioning action applied along a predetermined lineto sever the desired length of material from the roll or supply. Ifdesired a straight edge or knife can be used in combination with one ormore elements of the present invention but such additions are notnecessary for most purposes.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel typeof equipment for severing sheet material from a roll or supply whereinthe use of cutting blades are unnecessary.

Another object of the invention is to provide sheet severing equipmentwherein the sheetmaterial is severed ;by.a tensioning action.

'A further object of the invention is to provide ,novel .meansjforcontrolling the operation of sheet severing equipment.

invention will appear from the folowing description thereof in whichreference is made to the figures of the accomthe paper feeding rolls ofFig. 1.

That form of the invention chosen for purposes of illus- Fig. 5 is adetailed view illustrating the drive means for These and other objectsand features of'the p resent "light from source 22 and thereby actuatephoto-electric .eell'20 ina manner which serves to stop the motor 28 bywhich the feed rolls 14 are driven. The position of the carriage '24 ontrack 26 will therefore determine the length of the sheet 'fed out ontothe forks 18. When the sheet is ,thereaf-ter severedfrom the roll andremovedifrom onthe photoelectric cell 26 which in turn will be actuated--in ainanner which serves to start motor 28 and cause an--' other sheetto be. fed out; onto the'forks 18. By changing "the position of thecarriage on track 26 the length of the sheet-to :be severed can bevaried at the will of the operator.

A preferred form of sheet severing means 16 is illustrated in detail inFigs. 3 and 4 and includes-a lower stationarybase 32 together with anupper movable head 34. The head 34 is mounted for vertical movementtoward and away from the base and is guided during such movement'by theguideposts 36. The base 32 is provided with a stationary clamping member38 adjacent to which is located a movable clamping member 40. The member4.0 is .urged upward by a spring 42 and is guided in its movement by therod 44 having stop nuts 46 secured to the lower end thereof andengageable with the stationary blockIdS mounted on the base 32. Theupper surface of the movable clamping member 40 isprovided with afriction facing 50 formedof leather, rubber or the like for engaging andgripping the web of paper 8 passing over itssiirface. V 1 I l Themovable head 34 of sheet severing device isprovided with similarclamping means arranged in the ref versed positions. so that thestationary member 52 will engage the spring pressed clamping element 40mounted on the base. In a similar vWay the spring pressed clamp ingmember 54 on the head 34 is positioned to engage clutch means designedto be actuated by a trip 72 whereby the severing mechanism 16 will becaused to perform a single operation and thereafter remain stationaryuntil again actuated by operation of the trip. The trip is actuated byan operator standing in front of the conrolls 14.

position of Pig. 4.

element 38 on the base.

downward the springs 42 associate with the movable.

veyor 4 through movement of the pedal '74 and trip actuating cable 76.

With the construction described the desired length of paper is fedthrough the sheet severing device by feed the web of paper 8 and pressesthe paper against the spring urged movable gripping element 40 mountedon the base 32. At the same time the spring urged gripping element 54 onthe head is placed against the web of paper 8 so as to urge it againstthe stationary gripping As the head continues to move gripping elements4%? and 54 and are compressed and the adjacent portions of the sheet ofpaper are thereby firmly gripped between the clamping elements. When thelower edge of the stationary gripping element 52 moves past the upperedge of stationary gripping element 33 the paper gripped and held by thepairs of clements is placed under tension suflicicnt to cause it to beruptured. The pair of gripping elements 38 and 54 are preferably locatedclose to the pair of gripping elements 40 and 52 so that the rupturingoccurs along a substantially straight line. If desired, the adjacentcorners 76 and 78 of the stationary gripping elements may be ;rightangularly formed so as to present abrupt straight edges insuring a cleansharp severcnce of the paper as it is placed under tension by operationof the severing equipment.

However, the use of a knife edge or sharp steel blade in forming thecorners 76 and 73 is not necessary in view of the fact that theseverence of the web is actually effected by tensioning of theweb ratherthan. by conventional shearing operations.

After the paper thus fed out has been severed from the roll the papersupporting forks are depressed by operation of the pedal 35 and thecable 82 against the tension of the spring 84. The latter springnormally holds the forks 18 in the raised full line position illustratedin Fig. 1 but when pedal 80 is depressed the forks are lowered to thedotted line position of Fig. l and the severed length of paper shown at86 is delivered to the operator. On release of the pedal 80 the forksreturn to the full line position shown whereby another length of paperfed out onto the forks is held in position to cause the light beam to bebroken when the desired length has been to the desired width of thesheet to be used whereupon the operations are repeated in an identicalmanner. However, if a continuous or extended length of paper is re-Thereafter, when the sheet isto be severed answer 1 quired for anyreason the pedal 89 may be held depressed so that the sheet being fedwill not pass between the photoelectric cell 20 and the light source 22.The feed rolls 14 will, therefore, continue to advance the sheetmaterial as long as desired and until the required length has been drawnoff the roll or the roll is emptied.

While the invention has been described with particular reference toequipment for use in severing lengths of paper to be used as separatorsbetween coil springs, it will be apparent that the equipment may be usedfor innumerable other purposes as when wrapping laundry or otherarticles or when the sheets are to be used for any desired purpose.Furthermore, the equipment may, of course, be used for severing lengthsof ,material other than paper such as metal foil, transparent sheetmaterial or fabrics.

it will also be apparent that other types of control means may be usedin place of the photoelectric cell assembly and any suitable form ofpower operated means may be used for actuating the sheet severingdevice. In view thereof it should be understood that the particularembodiment of the invention chosen for purposes of illustration in thedrawings is intended to be typical and illustrative only and is notintended to limit the scope of the invention.

1. Sheet severing means comprising sheet feeding rolls,

a motor for actuating said rolls, movable sheet supporta ing means overwhich a sheet from said rolls is passed,

control means responsive to the position of the leading edge of saidsheet when said sheet supporting means is in a sheet supporting positionfor controlling operation of said motor, sheet severing means locatedbetween said feed rolls and control means, and means for actuating saidsheet severing means, said sheet supporting means being movable to asheet discharging position to render said control means inoperative.

2. A web handling device comprising web feeding rolls, a motor foractuating said rolls, movable web supporting means over which the webfrom said rolls is passed, control means responsive to the position ofthe leading edge of said web when said web supporting means is in a websupporting position for controlling operation of said motor, anelectrical circuit completed by said control means upon movement of theleading edge of said web to a predetermined position, said websupporting means being movable to a web discharging position to rendersaid control means inoperative.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS260,178 Durfec June 27, 1882 294,966 Chess Mar. 11, 1884 494,819 MestaApr. 4, 1893 1,844,766 Keller Feb. 9, 1932 2,360,275 Rau Oct. 10, 19442,392,459 Casalino Jan. 8, 1946 2,458,612 Luzzatto et al. Jan. 11, 19492,550,307 Sperry Apr. 24, 1951

